Mixolydian mode

The mode built on the fifth degree of a major scale, a major scale with a flattened seventh that gives it a bluesy, dominant character.

Mixolydian is the mode of the dominant seventh chord and of an enormous amount of rock, blues, country and folk music, because it keeps the major third while flattening the seventh. That combination sounds both bright and unresolved, which is exactly what a dominant chord wants. Players often find they already play it without knowing the name, since it is the scale that fits naturally over a one-four-five progression with dominant chords.

Example: A rock vamp over a dominant seventh chord, using a major third and a flattened seventh, is built on Mixolydian.

Mixolydian mode

See also